The five-day Dr Vikram Sarabhai Centenary Celebration (VSCC) kicked off at National Institute of Technology-Rourkela (NIT-R) under the aegis of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) of ISRO on Monday.

The programme is being held at 12 venues in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. NIT-R is among the three venues in Odisha. The others are Berhampur and Bhubaneswar. The programme was inaugurated by CEO of Rourkela Steel Plant Dipak Chattraj.

Speaking at the inaugural function, Director of SDSC A Rajarajan said the objective of the programme is to spread knowledge on space among students and encourage them to take up space research. Project Director, ISRO V Kumbakarnan spoke on the remote sensing capability of India and how ISRO is capturing high-resolution data. NIT-R Director Prof Animesh Biswas spoke on rocket technology.

VSCC Chairman and SDCC scientist Amitav Mohanty highlighted the vision and contributions of Dr Sarabhai. He said lectures on Dr Sarabhai, science fair and various contests are scheduled during the five-day programme. Students of VSS University of Technology-Burla will display models of rockets during the event.

A mobile exhibition 'Space on Wheels' would reach out to rural areas of Sundargarh district enabling youngsters in villages to have a glimpse of India's space technology, achievements and capabilities.

The event will also showcase the achievements of ISRO, development and flight of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-1 in 1993 and launch of EDUSAT by Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle-F01 in 2004.